Bubka recalls world record at old Lenin Stadium

Sergey Bubka of the USSR in the 1986 Goodwill Games

Moscow - Ukrainian pole vault great Sergei Bubka said that his sixth outdoor pole vault world record, set at the Lenin Stadium here in 1986, was one of the most difficult to achieve.

Bubka cleared 6.01 metres at the Goodwill Games at the Moscow arena used for the 1980 Olympics and now known as Luzhniki Stadium, reports Xinhua.

“That was a seriously colossal achievement. Luzhniki was an odd stadium and the pole vault wasn’t easy because the sector was on the bend (of the running track). And at the event we asked to move it to the straight so that the prevailing wind was different,” the 49-year-old said on Saturday.

Bubka, now in the running for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, would go on to set another 11 outdoor records, including one in 1991 at the same location. He holds the current outdoor record of 6.14 metres, set in Italy in 1994.